Security and Climate Change: The Limits of Realism (Routledge Research in Environmentalpolitics) PDF
Preview Security and Climate Change: The Limits of Realism (Routledge Research in Environmentalpolitics)
Security and Climate Change This scholarly work provides a distinct critique of the Realist argument. It seeks to explain why the international community has responded with a sense of fatalistic passivity to climate change. The author argues that this Realist view rests on a dangerous contradiction; far from delivering security it serves to limit the way we think about the new generation of risks we face. The book explores the limits of a Realist perspective with regard to “non-traditional” threats such as climate change. Focusing on a major Realist text, John Mearsheimer’s The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Mark J.Lacy: ● interrogates the foundation of the hierarchy of security that emerges in this Realist argument; ● challenges the view that Realism is a tragic perspective by arguing that Realism is built on a number of techno-optimistic assumptions; ● links the Realist perspective to corporate interest in the United States. Security and Climate Change moves from the intellectual foundations of Realism, to the activities of think-tanks such as the Cato Institute, through to the Clinton Administration’s attempt to articulate a different politics of security. Lacy introduces readers to debates in International Relations theory and the broader issues at stake in the development of United States current foreign policy. Mark J.Lacy is currently a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Lancaster University. He has published articles in Environmental Politics, Millenium: Journal of International Studies, and Alternative: Global, Local, Political. Environmental Politics/Routledge Research in Environmental Politics Edited by Matthew Paterson University of Ottawa and Graham Smith University of Southampton Over recent years environmental politics has moved from a peripheral interest to a central concern within the discipline of politics. This series aims to reinforce this trend through the publication of books that investigate the nature of contemporary environmental politics and show the centrality of environmental politics to the study of politics per se. The series understands politics in a broad sense and books will focus on mainstream issues such as the policy process and new social movements as well as emerging areas such as cultural politics and political economy. Books in the series will analyse contemporary political practices with regards to the environment and/or explore possible future directions for the ‘greening’ of contemporary politics. The series will be of interest not only to academics and students working in the environmental field, but will also demand to be read within the broader discipline. The series consists of two strands: Environmental Politics addresses the needs of students and teachers, and the titles will be published in paperback and hardback. Titles include: Global Warming and Global Politics Matthew Paterson Politics and the Environment James Connelly and Graham Smith International Relations Theory and Ecological Thought Towards synthesis Edited by Eric Lafferière and Peter Stoett Planning Sustainability Edited by Michael Kenny and James Meadowcroft Deliberative Democracy and the Environment Graham Smith EU Enlargement and the Environment Institutional change and environmental policy in Central and Eastern Europe Edited by JoAnn Carmin and Stacy D.VanDeveer Routledge Research in Environmental Politics presents innovative new research intended for high-level specialist readership. These titles are published in hardback only and include: 1 The Emergence of Ecological Modernisation Integrating the environment and the economy? Stephen C.Young 2 Ideas and Actions in the Green Movement Brian Doherty 3 Russia and the West Environmental cooperation and conflict Geir Hønneland 4 Global Warming and East Asia The domestic and international politics of climate change Edited by Paul G.Harris 5 Europe, Globalization and Sustainable Development Edited by John Barry, Brian Baxter and Richard Dunphy 6 The Politics of GM Food A comparative study of the UK, USA and EU Dave Toke 7 Environmental Policy in Europe The Europeanization of national environmental policy Edited by Andrew Jordan and Duncan Liefferink 8 A Theory of Ecological Justice Brian Baxter 9 Security and Climate Change International relations and the limits of Realism Mark J.Lacy 10 The Environment and International Politics International fisheries, Heidegger and social method Hakan Seckinelgin Security and Climate Change International relations and the limits of Realism Mark J.Lacy LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/. © 2005 Mark J.Lacy All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lacy, Mark J. Security and climate change: international relations and the limits of Realism/Mark J.Lacy.-1st ed. p. cm.—(Routledge research in environmental politics) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Climate changes- Environmental aspects. 2. Environmental policy- International cooperation. 3. Global environmental change-International cooperation. I. Title. II. Series. QC981.8.C5L33 2005 363.738′74526–dc22 2004021926 ISBN 0-203-35689-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-66931-2 (Adobe e-Reader Format) ISBN 0-415-32408-4 (Print Edition) For Claire Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones. (Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense, 2003) For the more thought can circumscribe its enemy, the more it can concentrate its strength. In determining the enemy, thought is able to create its own space, to extend it, to breathe freely. (Pierre Klossowski, Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle, 1997) Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction: the tragedy of Realism 1 2 The world is a laboratory 23 3 Illusions of Realism 44 4 Mearsheimer and the vicious circle 72 5 Conclusion 100 Notes 122 Index 130 Acknowledgments I owe a considerable debt to the many friends and colleagues who have encouraged me over the past years. Conversations with Neil Cooper and Mike Pugh in the James Street Vault, Plymouth, reminded me why I became interested in International Relations in the first place. During the same period, Claire Heristchi put up with my “organized irresponsibility” for too long: her support was essential to the completion of the book. Graduate students at the University of Bristol allowed me the indulgence of testing out the arguments in a course on environmental security: at the University of Lancaster, Matt Macdonald was a useful realist critic. Simon Dalby and Matthew Paterson provided useful insights into earlier drafts: this book is very much a “footnote” to the interrogations of ecopolitics and (in)security that they have developed in recent years. As an Economic Social Research Council-funded graduate student at the University of Sussex, Julian Saurin provided me with the freedom and guidance to pursue the lines of thought that have filtered into this book; Justin Rosenberg, Kees van der Pijl, Beate Jahn and Alex Colas inspired me to read books I might otherwise not have considered. Similarly, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Laura Maritano, Henry Neale and Kevin Love were good friends and interlocutors to have as a graduate student. I was fortunate to complete the book at the University of Lancaster where Cindy Weber, Mick Dillon, Adam Morton, Mark Duffield, Christine Aguis, and Peter Wilkin offered useful last minute comments and observations. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Ann and Ed, for providing support during the writing of the thesis that is the basis for this book. In the preface to the book that forms the basis of the critique developed here—John Mearsheimer’s The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001)—the author makes a point that I am in total agreement with, citing C.Wright Mills’ advice on the art of academic writing: You are to assume that you have been asked to give a lecture on some subject you know well, before an audience of teachers and students from all departments of a leading university, as well as an assortment of interested people from a nearby city. Assume that such an audience is before you and that they have a right to know; assume that you want to let them know. Now Write. Like Mearsheimer, I hope that the advice of Mills has been well taken here.
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